EL CERRITO — A registered sex offender was arrested Thursday after he was caught with alcohol and a 16-year-old girl in his car during a traffic stop, police said.

At 11:38 p.m., an El Cerrito police officer stopped 46-year-old Antioch resident Marcelle Hayward on San Pablo Avenue at El Dorado Street and during a records check, the officer was told Hayward was a registered sex offender on parole for sexual assaults committed against a minor.

During questioning, the officer found out that Hayward had bought alcohol for his passenger, an unidentified 16-year-old girl from Antioch, and then had driven her to a motel on San Pablo Avenue in Richmond.

The two had left the motel to get more alcohol when the officer stopped them.

The officer took the girl into protective custody and she was picked up by her mother later that morning. The officer was able to get a parole hold on Hayward for violating the terms of his probation and he was booked at the El Cerrito Police Department and then transported to County Jail in Martinez.

“The alert actions of this officer most likely prevented a sexual assault by this high risk sex offender,” the police department said in a release.

WASHINGTON – Hillary Clinton challenged Congress on Thursday to combat fake and misleading news on social media, using a post-election appearance to tackle an issue that gripped her presidential campaign and culminated with a shooting incident Sunday in Northwest Washington.